Cable guys expect US deal to boost business

A FIFE-based cabling company expects to increase sales by 50 per cent over the next two to three years after signing a transformational licensing agreement with a US manufacturer.

Ten 47, based in Dysart, Kirkcaldy, has entered into a deal with Los Angeles firm Yellow Jacket, which will allow it to manufacture and sell in Europe cable protectors used in industries such as entertainment and broadcasting. The Scots firm, which was set up in 2001 by entrepreneurs Keith Gordon and Douglas Fury, expects the venture to add an extra 1.5 million or so to sales over the next two to three years. In the last financial year sales reached around 3m.

The company, whose core business involves assembling and distributing interconnectors, also expects to create a further ten high-value jobs as a result of the joint venture agreement, which would bring its total workforce to about two dozen over the next few years.

Gordon and Fury have registered a separate company, Yellow Jacket Europe, to oversee the work with the US business and they expect to invest around 500,000 this year in new equipment and premises, with the help of Royal Bank of Scotland. Scottish Enterprise is also supporting the firm through a regional selective assistance grant.

Gordon said: "After a ten-year period of sustained growth we feel we can now take the business to a new level with the creation of this new joint venture."

Ten 47 used to distribute in Europe cable protectors manufactured by Yellow Jacket in the US but because of high costs and delays with surface transportation, the two companies decided a joint venture to manufacture the product in Scotland would more effectively target the European market.

Ten 47's products are also used for temporary power generators, on railways and for military purposes.